Needle for shoe upper lacing machines



Sept. l5, 1942. J, FQSSA 2,295,727

NEEDLE FOR SHOE UPPER LACING MACHINES Filed-Sept. `9, 1941` 64 'oooooo E Patented Sept. 15, 1942 NEEDLE FOR SHOE UPPER LACING MACHINES Joseph Fossa, Lynn, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 9, 1941, Serial No. 410,184

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to shoe upper lacing machines and more particularly to lace inserting needles which are arranged to carry loops of lacing cord alternately through the eyelets of a shoe upper and across the edges thereof in such machines.

In the machine of inventors prior U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,106,320 of January 25, 1938, and of his application for patent Serial No. 217,003, led July 1, 1938, there are provided a plurality of lacing mechanisms having a series of lacing needles for inserting a separately fastened lacing within each pair of aligned eyelets in a folded shoe upper. The needles act as eyelet locating devices on which the eyelets are impaled before the machine is started, When the machine is started, the needles are reciprocated and alternately moved laterally rst in one direction and then in the other carrying several strands of cord through each pair of aligned eyelets. To insure proper spacing of the needles to iit the distances between the eyelets before the machine is started, the several lacing mechanisms are connected by manually adjusted spacing mechanism arranged to move the lacing mechanisms equally towards or from each other. As a further means for insuring proper spacing of the needles in case of slight inequality between eyelet spacings, the spacing mechanism is disconnected as the machine is started to permit the needles to adjust themselves automatically to unequally spaced eyelets.

In certain instances, for ornamental purposes or otherwise, a shoe upper may be provided with substantially larger eyelets than ordinarily employed so that when the eyelets are impaled on the needles, each needle does not ll a substantial proportion of the area within each pair of eyelets. The eyelets thus may be applied to the needles even when the needles are improprly spaced. As a result, the upper may not occupy the correct position on the needles for a satisfactory lacing operation and the spacings of the needles may -be substantially different from the spacings of the eyelets. When the machine is started with the eyelets in the upper improperly located, the lacings may be inserted improperly or the upper damaged by contact with the needles or other operating parts of the machine.

The machine of the patent and application is f mental eyelets are employed having enameled or polished flanges, particularly where the eyelets are of a size larger than the ordinary size, improper location of the eyelets or inaccurate spacings of the needles with relation to the distance between eyelets may cause the clamping members to strike and injure the finish on the eyelet flanges.

The present invention has for its objects the provision in a lacing machine of the type disclosed in the patent and application, of means for avoiding the diiiiculties enumerated and for insuring proper spacing of the needles with relation to the distances between eyelets in a shoe upper, particularly where eyelets of larger than ordinary size are employed.

Another object of the invention is to prevent injury to or marking of the anges on eyelets in a shoe upper by the individual clamping members in a lacing machine of the type referred to. A further object is to provide a novel and improved form of needle for use in a shoe upper lacing machine.

With these and other objects in view, one feature of the present invention contemplates the provision in a shoe upper lacing machine having lacing mechanisms including a plurality of reciprocating needles on which a series of pairs of aligned eyelets are impaled and individual clamping members acting on the upper close to one side of each needle, of means comprising a at projection extending diametrically from at least one of the needles and fitting the diameter of the eyelets impaled for positioning the eyelets in such relation to the needles that the flanges on the eyelets will be free from contact or injury by the clamping members. Preferably, the pro- J'ection has a cam surface arranged to draw they eyelets away from the individual clamping members as the eyelets are being applied to the needles. 'Ihe provision of a flat projection fitting a diameter of the eyelets, rather than filling the entire area of an eyelet, ena-bles the needles to be reciprocated towards and from the eyelets without crowding or pinching the cords of a lacing being inserted. This feature also embodies means for insuring accurate spacing adjustments between the needles corresponding to the distances between pairs of eyelets. For this purpose, particularly when manually adjustable spacing mechanism is employed, as hereinafter described, more than one of the needles in the machine is provided with an eyelet locating projection.

The needle of the patented machine is formed with an eye pointed terminal and a recess extending crosswise of the terminal at that side of the needle shank with oneoutlet of the cord carrying eye to facilitate removal of one leg of the cord loop carried by the needle. According to one embodiment of the improved needle, particularly useful in that machine, the projection from the shank of the needle is provided at the same side of the needle with the loop taker receiving recess.

These and other features of Ythe invention will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the left-hand portion f a shoe upper lacing machine embodying the features of the present invention; Fig 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the lacing mechanisms of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1, including the lacing needles showing the positions assumed while impaling relatively large eyelets in a folded shoe upper; Fig. 3 is a similar view of a portion of the folded shoe upper jafter being completely impaled on the needles of the machine, together with a portion of a loop taker indicating the position of the loop taker while removing one leg of a needle loop from one needle; Fig. 4 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of two needles, one of which is of improved construction, according to the present invention, and eyelets impaled thereby, in a portion of a shoe upper; and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View of the improved needle employed in the machine.

The illustrated machine is a power driven automatically actuated shoe upper lacing machine similar to that disclosed in inventors patent and application identified above, in which the eyelets along the edges of the lacing slit in a folded shoe upper are brought into alignment and impaled on a series of lace inserting needles before the machine is started. Operation of the machine forms a series of enchained needle loops in a lacing cord passing alternately through each pair of aligned eyelets and across the edges of the upper. During operation of the machine, the needles are withdrawn from the eyelets and reinserted a number of times to provide a lacing having a plurality of parallel strands of cord. The operation on the upper after the machine is started continues until the lacings are com- 'r a row extending in parallel relation to each other andare provided at their terminals with cord carrying eyes by means of which the loops inthe cord are formed. Cooperating with the needles to receive and hold the loops, there are provided a series of loop takers 4 having relatively movable loop holder and spreader points 6 and 8, respectively. The loop takers and needles are mounted together in individual frames Iii comprising unitary relatively movable lacing mechanisms. To space .the lacing mechanisms equal distances apart to accommodate the spacing of eyelets in different sizes of shoe uppers, each lacing frame is connected at three points to a manually operated spacing mechanism including a manually controlled spacing lever i2 and a series of links lll connected between the spacing lever and the lacing frames. The spacing lever must be moved manually to approximately the correct adjustment before the eyelets of a shoe upper can be impaled on the needles 2, and as a result, the upper is temporarily secured in a position where it may be carried by the needles into the machine for further operations. After being drawn into the machine by the needles, the upper is clamped in place by clamp jaws I5 and individual clamping members I8 and 2l), one of which is mounted on each lacing frame lil. Each of the individual clamping members I8, 20 is mounted at the right side of each needle at a position where it will engage the shoe upper close to the impaled eyelet. As a further means for automatically adjusting the spacings of the needles where slight inequalities in distance between eyelets exist due to inaccurate insertion of eyelets, the links It are disconnected from the spacing lever as the machine is started and as the clamping members grip the upper.

The eyelets in a shoe upper are formed of tubular rivets 22 having their ends spread to provide flanges 2t. When the individual clamping members I8 and 2i! are actuated to grip the upper, it has been found that the anges on the eyelets may become dented or the finish otherwise injured, particularly where eyelets of larger than ordinary size are employed. This difculty is increased when the spacing mechanism is disconnected during lacing operations. If the neeles employed in the machine are of sufficient diameter to ll the eyelets and thus insure proper location with respect to the gripping members, there may be insufficient space in the eyelets for the strands of lacing cord. If the strands of cord are pinched in the eyelets by the needles, they will not slide easily and the lacings will be improperly inserted and tightened.

In order to insure that lacings will be inserted properly and to avoid injurious contact of the clamping members I8 and 20 with the flanges on the eyelets in machines of this type, the machine of the present invention is provided with special needles 26. Each needle 2E is formed with a at projection 28 extending lengthwise to the shank of the needle from that side along which the leg of the needle loop acted upon by the loop taker lies. The eye 3e of the needle, according to the usual construction, passes diametrically through the terminal end of the shank and below the eye there is a recess 32 extending crosswise of the shank at the same side of the needle with one outlet of the eye. As the spreader point 3 of the loop taker moves across the end of the needle, it passes into the recess 32 and removes the needle loop (see Fig. 3). The side projection 28 is so proportioned that the cord will slide easily through the space at the rear of the projection as it is being drawn through the eyelet (see Fig. 4).

The side projection 28 on the needle 2.6 is of sufficient width to fit the diameter of a relatively large-sized eyelet and at its upper end is formed with a cam surface 34 merging with the surface of the recesses 32. Along its side edge, the pro.- jection is substantially parallel to the shank of the needle so as to enable the needle to be reciprocated freely. The cam surface of the projection on the needle at the left end of the row acts to draw the upper towards the left and the flanges on the eyelets away from the individual clamping members I8 and 2Q. With a single needle having a side projection at the left end of -the row, unless the lacing mechanisms are improperly spaced, the eyelets of an upper will be prop.- erly positioned out of contact with the clamping members, all the remaining pairs of eyelets being correctly located with the respective plain intermediate needles 2.

To assist in correctly spacing the lacing mechanisms, it is desirable to employ a second special needle 26 in the series having a side projection at the right end of the row with the projection located in the same relation to the needle shank as the projection on the needle at the left of the row, so that when the upper is applied to the machine, proper adjustment of the spacing lever will be required before all the eyelets can be impaled on the needles. With the use of side projection needles at both ends of the row, contact is avoided between the flanges on the eyelets and the individual clamping members throughout the length of the eyeletted edges, and a better result is insured during the lacing operatons.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for lacing shoe uppers, the edges along the lacing slit of which are provided with flanged eyelets having, in combination, a plurality of lacing mechanisms including needles arranged to permit aligned eyelets of a folded shoe upper to be impaled thereon, and individual clamping members acting on the upper in close proximity to the anges on the eyelets, and means for preventing engagement of the clamping devices with the flanges on the eyelets comprising a iiat projection on at least one of the needles acting within the eyelets while being impaled to move the upper in ia direction to draw the ilanges away from the clamping members.

2. A machine for lacing shoe uppers, the edges along the lacing slit of which are provided with flanged eyelets having, in combination, a plurality of lacing mechanisms including a series of needles arranged to permit aligned eyelets of a folded shoe upper to be impaled thereon, individual upper clamping members acting on the upper in close proximity to the anges on the eyelets, mechanisms for changing the distances,

between the lacing mechanisms for uppers having differently spaced eyelets, and means for insuring accurate spacings between the eyelet locating devices and for preventing engagement of the clamping devices with-the flanges on the eyelets comprising projections on at least the needles at the ends of the series acting within the eyelets while being impaled to move the upper in a direction to draw the ilanges away from the clamping members.

3. A machine for lacing the eyeletted edges of shoe uppers having, in combination, lacing mechanisms including a plurality of needles arranged to form and carry loops of lacing cord through the eyelets and across the eyeletted edges of an upper, a loop taker acting at the side of each needle to receive the loop carried by the needle, and means for positioning each eyelet uniformly on each needle comprising a Iifat projection extending lengthwise along the shank at the side with the loop taker of at least one of the needles.

4. A machine for lacing shoe uppers, the edges along the lacing slit of which are provided with ilanged eyelets having, in combination, a plurality of lacing mechanisms including a series of needles arranged to permit aligned eyelets of a folded shoe upper to be impaled thereon, individual clamping members acting on the upper in close proximity to the flanges of the eyelets, mechanisms for changing the distances between the lacing mechanisms for uppers having difierently spaced eyelets, and means for preventing engagement of the clamping devices with the lianges on the eyelets comprising a projection extending lengthwise along the side of a needle of the series and a similar projection on the same side of another needle of the series.

5. A needle for shoe upper lacing machines comprising a main shank having an eye pointed terminal, a loop taker receiving recess extending crosswise of the shank at the side ofthe needle with one outlet of the eye in the terminal, and a flat projection from the shank at the same side of the needle with the loop taker receiving recess to engage the inner surface of an eyelet impaled thereon.

6. A needle for shoe upper lacing machines comprising a main shank having an eye pointed terminal, a loop taker receiving recess extending crosswise of the shank at the side of the needle `with one outlet of the eye in the terminal, and a 

